The Bureau Files: The Reindeer Riddle
by Catsafari
Summary: *Christmas Special 2018* It's Christmas and everything is merry and bright - including the reindeer that have just magically flown onto the local shopping mall. Is it Santa? Or is something more nefarious afoot? Either way, the Bureau has a festive case this year! (Set between Series 4 & 5)
1. The Reindeer Riddle (Part 1)

_The Bureau Files: Christmas 2018_

 **ooOoo**

 **A/N: So, firstly, apologies for running late on Series 5. It is still in the works, but just taking a wee bit longer than expected. Instead, please enjoy this two-parter Christmas special for The Bureau Files that I definitely didn't procrastinate on in place of TBF5.**

 **Part Two will be posted on New Year's Day.**

 **Merry Christmas!**

 **Cat.**

 **ooOoo**

 **The Reindeer Riddle (Part 1)**

"You told me Santa wasn't real."

Of all the greetings Baron had possibly expected upon answering the Yoshioka home phone, that particular accusation had not been on the list. Baron shifted his stance atop the table and double-checked that the incoming number was from Haru. It was. His confusion didn't lessen.

"Good afternoon to you too, Miss Haru. And I believe my answer was something along the lines of: In all my years of dealing with the strange and supernatural, I have yet to encounter any proof that a jolly magical man in a flying sleigh distributes presents to children of the world once a year." He hesitated. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. It's simply that half a dozen reindeer just flew onto the roof of the Ume Shopping Centre. How has your day been?"

"Reindeer."

"Uh-huh. On the roof." Over the line, it sounded like Haru was trying very hard for nonchalance and failing. "Baron, I'm twenty-eight and I'm having a mid-life crisis over the possible existence of Santa Claus. Give me an explanation for what I'm seeing."

Muta snorted as he passed by the phone. "Ya sure it's not just a publicity stunt, Chicky?"

"I think I know flying reindeer when I see them, Muta."

"Shame it's not flying pigs, or all we'd have to do is give Muta wings and he'd be able to infiltrate them with ease," Toto offered.

"Fight me!"

"Not in my house! Mum will kill me!"

Baron motioned for the other two to calm before returning to the phone. "Give us five minutes and we'll be there."

"Not a chance. There's like a hundred people filming this; the last thing we need is you getting caught on camera too. Give it an hour, and this will be all over the internet. Heck, give it two minutes."

"Then how can we help?"

There was a pause over the line, filled with the faint sound of approaching sirens. Then Haru said, "I'm… not entirely sure. Explanations, maybe? Right now, I'm just having my whole childhood rewritten. This has to be a trick, doesn't it? A… A Creation?"

"Possibly. Of course, without being able to investigate, this will all be conjecture…"

"How about if just I come?" Toto asked. "I may be a Creation, but I can still pass unnoticed as an ordinary crow. If they are Creations, I will be able to tell."

"That sounds like a plan. So I'll just… chill out here, I guess? Until you turn up. Toto, are you familiar with the parking lot around the shopping centre?"

"I've flown past a few times."

"Meet me down the dead-end alley where the bins are."

As Haru ended the call, the rest of the Bureau exchanged glances.

"Do you really think we're dealing with a Creation?" Toto asked. "One, maybe, but multiple Creations all at once? That would take a lot of magic."

"I honestly don't know," Baron admitted. "But if something magical's amiss, then the Bureau has a case."

ooOoo

Haru flipped her phone shut and returned her attention to the reindeer crowding the roof. A fire engine had arrived, evidently summoned in the same capacity as they would for a stuck cat, and the firefighters were somewhat bewildered as to what exactly they were meant to do about this. Especially since the reindeers were large, antlered, and apparently quite happy where they were.

The unexpected arrivals had garnered quite the audience too. Kids young enough to still believe in Santa Claus were having a field day, while their older brethren were obviously rethinking everything they knew about life. And, of course, a sea of phones were capturing the strange event. Haru considered adding her own phone to the mix, but decided that there was nothing she could add that wasn't already being filmed.

She headed to the designated alley, passing by a busker who was taking full advantage of the situation with an accordion rendition of _Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer_ , and she dropped a few coins into the hat as she went. It would seem that, even after all these years, she still had a soft spot for accordion music.

There were times when she could barely believe how many years had passed since that fateful day – since that fateful dance – and she wasn't sure if it felt like everything had changed in that time, or nothing. On the one hand, the past year alone had brought chaos and loss, but on the other…

There was Baron.

He had confessed his feelings, finally said those words, and yet she wasn't sure where they went from there. They had been dancing around that particular truth – for different reasons; because of her humanity, his immortality, her normal life – for so long that she wasn't sure how they would break out of that cycle.

A caw overhead broke her from her rambling thoughts, and Toto swooped over Haru. He dropped a clawful of what appeared to be small metal tokens before landing on a fence post. Haru caught the pieces and raised an eyebrow at the bird.

"What are these?" she asked.

"You tell me. I found them on the rooftop with the reindeer. They appear to be game pieces of some type?"

Haru turned them over. There were three in total: a dog, a top hat, and a race car. "They're Monopoly tokens," she said. "Toto, why are we worrying about Monopoly tokens when we have Santa's reindeer parading atop the shopping centre?"

"They may be flying reindeer, but we have no guarantee they're Santa's."

"They're flying reindeer," Haru muttered. "What else are they going to be?"

"As for the pieces, they appear to be imbued with Creation magic – the same as our misplaced friends back there," Toto finished.

"So… they _are_ Creations?"

"No, they're real reindeer, but some sort of Creation magic has changed them."

"Okay, making flying reindeer, I kinda get. It is Christmas after all. But why Monopoly pieces?"

"I have no explanation for why they would be there, which is why I picked them up. Perhaps they've been accidentally tainted with the same magic, in which case we can possibly use them to figure out what kind of Creation magic we're dealing with."

A commotion rose from the crowd, and Haru rushed back out into the parking lot just in time to see the reindeer take off. "Toto–"

"On it." Toto took to the sky and flew after them.

The crowd jostled in the direction of the reindeer, and Haru stood back to let them. When she wasn't in immediate danger of being crushed, she headed towards the firefighters, all who looked like they needed a cup of tea. She started towards the nearest one, a tall lady who had actually managed to track down a drink.

"Hi," Haru said. "Crazy day, huh?"

The firefighter grinned in a manner that indicated she was coping with the madness in the only way she could: seeing the humour in it. "You're telling me. I've seen some weird stuff on this job, but this takes the cake."

"Where do you think they come from? I mean, reindeer? In the middle of Japan?"

"Oh, we know where they came from," the firefighter replied. "The reindeer display in the centre of town. Their owner called up a few minutes before to complain that his reindeer had just up and flown the coop. Course, we thought it was a prank… Guess we were wrong."

"A reindeer display?"

"Sure. They're toured round Japan and it brings all the kids out to town, 'cause, you know, Santa's reindeer and all that. Guess he got more magic than he bargained for." The fire engine's ladder finished winching back down, and the firefighter dropped her now-empty cup into a nearby bin. "Looks like that's enough excitement for one day. Merry Christmas, and all that."

"Merry Christmas," Haru echoed back. The caw of a crow caught her attention, and she retreated back to the previous alleyway. "So. What happened?"

"They flew back to a paddock at the Crossroads," Toto said, "and are currently working their way through a trough of hay and moss."

"That's it? Seems a little anticlimactic."

"If it helps, the man at the paddock seemed very relieved to have them back," Toto added. "Whatever Creation magic was affecting them, it's stopped now. All that's left is traces."

"Well, problem solved then, I guess," Haru said, feeling a little put out that it had cleared up before they had even found any answers. "The weird flying reindeer are no longer flying, but we still don't know what caused it. I don't suppose the owner is an artisan?"

"There's no trace of Creation magic on the man, so no. Whatever caused it, he had no part in it."

"He did call to report them flying away, so I suppose it was unlikely that he was expecting it to happen," Haru murmured. "And there's not going to be any chance for us to talk to him now – he'll be swamped with reporters until this dies down." She rattled the Monopoly pieces in her hand, thinking through their choices. "Well, I guess that leaves us with one option."

"Which is?"

"We watch the news like everyone else."

ooOoo

"… _they were just there and then they weren't – what else am I meant to say?"_

The reporter smiled tiredly at the reindeer's owner, a portly man with a thick accent, and tried again for information. _"And, before today, they had never shown any sign of…?"_

" _Of what? Flying? Do yer think I'd be scooting these beasts from town to town if they could bloody fly?"_

" _And nothing prompted–"_

" _Lady, if I knew why they decided to go fer a walk in the clouds, I'd start them up again. But they ain't budging now. It's like they never flew in the firs' place!"_

Haru turned the TV off and leant back to look at the rest of the Bureau. "Yeah, I think you were right, Toto. He had nothing to do with it – or if he did, he's the best actor I ever saw. How are the Monopoly pieces coming along?"

"This would be a lot easier if I still had access to the Sanctuary," Baron murmured. He uncrossed his legs and crossed them the other way as he sat atop the living room coffee table, pieces spread out before him. "At the moment, I can't discern anything more than Toto's initial diagnosis. They're tainted with Creation magic, but aren't Creations themselves. If I could track the magic's origin, then that would be something, but I simply don't have the resources…"

"Maybe that was it." Muta paused from where he was rifling through the cupboards, doing as best as he could as at cat-sized in a human-sized kitchen. "Maybe something happened and someone else dealt with it. Why'd it always gotta be us, anyway?"

"He's got a point," Haru said. "Also are you scrounging through my cupboards?"

"No."

"I can see you."

"You don't see anything."

"Muta, put that sardine tin back. You don't even have a tin opener."

"Not _yet_."

"Put it back. Anyway," she said, returning to the Creations, "perhaps it's good if… whatever was going on has already been solved. Even if I am really, really curious. My mother's still a little… overprotective after last year. She'd hit the roof if she discovered I was back on another case, especially while she was gone on a quilting convention."

"It is understandable after recent events," Toto said. "You _did_ vanish for a whole year."

"And now I'm back." Haru rose to her feet, stretching out as she did. "Bah humbug. Perhaps the reindeer are just one of those little mysteries that are destined to never be answered. Now, if you all stay there, I'm going to get the Christmas boxes down. I'm going to need some help decorating this house."

"Are you sure you don't need any help bringing the boxes down?"

"No offense, Baron, but I don't think there'll be many boxes suitable for one of your stature."

Halfway out in the hallway, Haru felt the ripple of magic as she pulled the attic ladder down. She raised an eyebrow and didn't think much else of it. "You can't solve everything with magic, Baron," she murmured to no one in particular. She selected a box up in the attic and carefully descended back down, counting her mercies that Christmas ornaments were mostly light, albeit packed up large and bulky. Which was fine, until she miscounted the final step and the box jarred from her hand.

Someone caught it.

Someone in a light-grey suit with a top hat perched on furry orange ears.

Someone who should definitely not be taller than her on a normal day in the Human World.

"Baron?!"

"I thought you might need an extra hand bringing down the boxes. It's not the easiest task to achieve alone."

"Baron, you're tall."

"Yes. I used the same spell I've used before to alter my height. It's quite simple, really–"

"You're tall," Haru repeated, "in my house. In the Human World."

"Yes, I realise–"

"What if someone sees you?" she hissed. She snatched back the box and dropped it to the floor. "How am I going to explain the giant talking cat in my home?"

"To be fair," Muta said, watching the proceedings from the doorway, "you'd have to explain the talking crow and cat as well."

"People might overlook a cat and crow in my house, especially if they're not over six feet and wearing a suit."

"Miss Haru, are you suggesting I remove the suit?"

Haru opened her mouth, closed her mouth, and then closed her eyes. "I walked right into that one. Baron, please, just go back to your normal size. I know it's weird without the Sanctuary now, having to stay small almost all the time, but if your stay here causes any ruckus, my mother is in real danger of throwing you out."

Baron smiled softly. "Understood, Miss Haru," he said, and Haru felt the air change as he released the magic holding him at her height.

She looked away, trying not to think about the way her heart had leapt at seeing those eyes so close to hers once again. There were many things she missed about the Sanctuary – which had been lost when it closed to keep itself from collapsing – but one of the things that she felt most often was the withdrawal of somewhere that she and Baron could regularly… just be. A place for cups of tea and making plans and sitting together while reading, reassured by the body heat of the person beside them.

And, although Baron had never said it in so many words, she suspected he felt the same.

"But…" Haru said eventually, "it's already dark out and no one's going to come round at this time of evening. Perhaps… if we close all the curtains then you can use that spell. Anyway," she added, picking back up the box and carrying it to the lounge, "you're right about the boxes. I could do with some help bringing them down."

ooOoo

"Did you change the decorations in the hall?" Haru shifted the box of tinsel to one side and examined the red berries placed artfully along the photo frames. Aside, she murmured, "I didn't even know we had holly…"

There was the sound of a hammer missing its mark, quickly followed by a muttered curse and, a moment later, a wreath bouncing across the floor. Baron appeared at the kitchen doorway, gingerly rubbing his hand. "I don't believe so. Why?"

"It's just… I'm sure I put tinsel up earlier." Haru prodded the offending holly and made a face as one of the berries dropped from its stem. "They're real. But… we never buy real holly."

Before she could ponder any longer, her phone went off. She picked up the rogue berry and accepted the incoming call. "Hey, Michael. How's your Christmas decorating going? I seem to be forgetting what I've put up–"

" _Turn on the TV_."

Haru placed the berry on the coffee table as she entered the living room, and shifted her phone to cradle it between her shoulder and head. "If this is about the reindeer, we've already looked into it–"

" _Trust me, you'll want to turn on the TV_."

"Okay, sure. And a Merry Christmas to you… too…" She trailed off as the signal kicked in to the TV and she was treated to headline news. "Oh."

" _Yeah, I thought you'd want to know. So… this isn't normal, right?"_

"I'd say not. I'll get back to you when I have some answers." Haru flipped her phone shut. "Baron! Uh, a moment, please!"

She turned up the volume as the rest of the Bureau arrived.

"… _and chaos has arrived at the Crossroads in the form of a figure who appears to be the spritely Jack Frost of folklore…_ " the reporter was saying, her breath rising in misty spirals. In the background, a small fellow sprang across the crowds that had gathered, flicking the noses of those he passed.

Haru looked to Baron. "I suppose you're going to tell me that Jack Frost isn't real either?"

"Winter spirits definitely are," he said. "But, while I have never met the entity that goes by the name of Jack Frost, from my experience with seasonal spirits, that is generally not the appearance they go by."

"He looks like something out of a book," Muta offered. "Or a cartoon."

"Spirits change appearance," Toto said.

Baron nodded. "True. And the tales do tell of Jack Frost as a somewhat mischievous sprite. If we are dealing with the real Jack Frost, there is a chance we have just found the explanation for the flying reindeer."

"That, or Santa Claus is real," Haru said. "What?" she demanded upon the looks she received. "If Jack Frost is real, why can't Santa Claus be?"

"Regardless, our first port of call should be to try and strike up a conversation with this… Jack Frost." Baron shifted back to his normal size and leapt onto the table. "Toto–"

"Oh, hold on." Haru stood herself between the two Creations and the window. "We still have the same issue as before – what if you get caught on camera?"

"Hey, Chicky; you were never this worried before about attracting attention."

"That's because we're not usually dealing with stuff that's on the news," Haru retorted. "Monsters at sea? Check. Living galleries? Check. Haunted restaurants? Check." She marked them off on one hand as she went. "You know, the quiet, pushed-aside stories that people don't really believe. But this? This is big. We need to be a little bit more careful if we don't want to start raising questions."

"Okay, but we're talking about Jack Frost," Muta said. "We've already gotten weird. What is one fancypants cat gonna add?"

"He does have a point," Baron said.

"Are you just saying that because you want to go investigate Jack Frost?"

"No, I'm simply agreeing that, as levels of strangeness go, I think we've surpassed the Creation mark. Also I do want to investigate this," he quickly added.

Haru groaned, running a hand through her hair. "You know what? Fine. Fine, we'll all go and investigate the winter spirit playing merry havoc in the middle of town. Can't see how that can possibly go wrong. Now, where did I put my coat…?"

ooOoo

Snow was beginning to fall as Haru pushed her way around the choir blocking the street and finally came into view of the cause of today's most recent commotion. The figure was short – only about two feet tall – with pale blue skin and hair like icicles, and perched on a lamppost. He was also in the process of spitting hail at the onlookers.

Haru lowered her head just as one pea-sized hail went flying over. "Well, for a spirit, he certainly doesn't have any manners." She raised her eyes and scanned the nearby rooftops, eventually picking out the familiar silhouette of Toto. The shadow of a top hat bobbed beside him.

Her attention was brought crashing back to Jack Frost as the spirit sprang into action. He bounced before the front row of onlookers, flicking harmless but bitter frost at their faces – no, their noses. Haru started back as ice flecked across her own skin, all cold and frost and… a little bit of magic? She smeared a few specks off with her thumb and rubbed the offending snow between her fingers. Ice. Just ice. It melted down her hand. And then down her sleeve and she regretted it.

There was another cry from the crowd, and Haru looked up just in time to see the sprite jump back onto the lamppost and then onto the rooftops in an impossible, wind-carried leap. Half through intent and half through the fact that the crowd was naturally converging in that direction, Haru found herself pushed after the fast-disappearing spirit. She spotted Toto – and presumably Baron – fly after him with, and she hauled herself and Muta out of the mass' stampede.

She dropped him as soon as they were out of stampeding range. She stared at the disappearing form of Toto. "You know what? I think we'll leave the chasing to them for now, huh?" She looked down. "Muta? Where…?" She spun round until she located him sidling up to a food stand. "Muta…" She started to approach, and then heard the rather fraught conversation the owner was having with a nearby policeman.

The policeman in question was tapping at a notepad, his attention more caught by the fallout from the alleged Jack Frost than the owner's complaint. "And what, precisely, is the issue with your chestnut stand, ma'am?"

"That's just it. It was a popcorn stand ten minutes ago!"

"Are you telling me that your popcorn stand transformed into a chestnut-roasting spit out of… what? Christmas magic?"

"I'm sorry, is this too unbelievable after the flying reindeer and winter spirit jumping around?"

"Okay, ma'am. And what precisely do you want me to do about your magical chestnut stand?"

"I don't know – you're the policeman. What do you suggest I do?"

The policeman eyed it. "Make chestnuts?"

Haru moved away just as the stand owner reached new levels of hysteria, nudging Muta with her before he could attempt to indulge in any of the questionably magic chestnuts. She was just about to suggest heading back and waiting for Toto and Baron to bring back news when she noticed something strange. Something she'd almost overlooked.

Two songs.

The choir and the accordion player.

It seemed odd to have two sources of music playing so close together. The choir dominated the audio scene, filling the air with yuletide carols, while the accordion was barely noticeable. It was a faint whisper in the ear, the tune almost unrecognisable.

She paused then.

 _Yuletide carols._

Such an odd, archaic phrase to fall back on. Only really found in one Christmas song she could think of.

She took another look around the Crossroads, heart leaping into mouth as she spotted a pattern she'd missed before. A pattern so bizarre, so nonsensical that she hadn't thought to look for it before.

 _Chestnuts roasting on an open fire._

 _Jack Frost nipping at people's noses._

 _Yuletide carols being sung by a choir…_

And what was the tune the accordion was playing?

 _The Christmas Song._

"Holy sugar and spice, Muta I think I've just realised what's going on," she whispered, and she started towards the accordion player.

Some of her intent must have been visible in her gaze or her stride, for the music came to an abrupt halt. The player rose to his feet and very casually began down one of the alleyways leading off the Crossroads.

She upped her pace.

He walked faster.

With Muta at her heels, she calmly broke into a jog.

And the musician ran.

ooOoo

"Toto, faster. We're losing him!"

"Perhaps next time you can fly and I'll do the shouting!" Toto retorted, but he dropped down through the air currents after the sprite. He drew his wings back, talons outstretched and inches away – "Got you" – when Jack Frost…

Vanished.

Toto's talons curled around a frosty breeze.

"Where did he go? Did he transport himself away?"

Toto brought himself back up into a glide and watched the cold world below. His feet tingled with the sensation of loose magic. "No, I don't think so. I think… he's – it's – gone." He flexed his talons but the magic lingered. "Undone. I think we're looking into another case of something manipulated, like the reindeer, but in this case… it was only a cold wind changed into the form of Jack Frost."

"So we're dealing with another symptom, not the cause," Baron murmured. "That means whatever – or whoever – is doing this is still out there."

A scream erupted from an alleyway below – a very familiar scream.

Toto didn't even wait for Baron's instructions.

ooOoo

Haru picked herself up off the ledge and jumped back onto the low roof. Ahead, the accordion player was putting worrying distance between them.

"Haru! Are you okay?"

Haru wobbled as she looked back to the newcomers, and blushed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just fell off the ledge I was running along – guess I'm still getting kinda used to being back in this body." She pointed to the musician as he scrambled over a low fence. "I think he has something to do with all this."

Baron nodded. "We'll follow him – you should probably sit–"

"There's not a snowball's chance in summer I'm missing this." Haru pushed herself back into a run, hearing Toto fly alongside her as she clambered over the fence. A year ago, she would have had a decent chance of jumping it; now, she wasn't so sure she could risk it.

The musician turned right along another alleyway, and Haru followed suit, her feet skidding a little along raised paving stones

"I know this route," she gasped. "I know this route! Toto – fly ahead and block his left at the end of this alley!"

"On it." Toto rose up into the air and sped ahead, leaving just Haru and Muta to pursue on foot (and paw). Haru watched as the musician slowed, the alleyway thinning at the far end and his accordion not making it easy. She regained some ground, just enough to see him exit the alley, try to turn left, and nearly fall over when he came face-to-face with the two Creations of the Bureau.

She exited out a moment later and leant heavily against the wall. "Geez, I really am out of shape. Please, stop," she appealed. "We just want to talk. What happened there – what you're doing–"

The busker glanced behind himself and saw the dead end they'd blocked him in. Well, it hadn't always been a dead end; at one point it had opened out into the Sanctuary, but that was long gone. Now all that remained was an unyielding wall.

He looked back to his pursuers, and by the way his eyes widened at the Bureau, Haru guessed he wasn't too familiar with the world of magic and Creations. He was past collage age, but not much older. Haru held up her hands in what she hoped would be taken as a placating gesture. "Please, we're not here to harm you. We just want to know what's going on. We can help – we deal with lots of magical stuff."

Her answer came in the wheeze of the accordion – a single line of _In the Bleak Midwinter_ – and the cruel gust of wind that it summoned. It slammed into her and, a moment later, Toto and Baron followed. She smacked into the ground, her arms and legs scraping across the pavement.

"Oh. Grazed knees," she gasped. "That's something I didn't miss in the last year." She rolled to her side to see Toto and Baron picking themselves off the ground. "Everyone okay?"

"It's mine. Mine, you hear me?" There was a growl to the musician's voice – a growl, and something… eerie. A faint echo, like the echo of a melody.

Haru shook her head, and her gaze focused on a pale-grey hat spinning along the ground. It rolled to a stop by the man's foot, and he kicked it away. She could feel Baron bristling over the brazen treatment as the hat tumbled against some loose pavement.

And then the man began to play.

Magic swirled about the hat, frosty winds turning to frosty clouds, and frosty clouds dissolving into snow. The snow whirlwind grew tighter and tighter until the hat was lifting off the ground. One foot. Two feet. Six feet tall, and the hat had grown to fit the smooth, rounded head it now sat on.

Crumbling pavement pulled itself free and spun up and around the forming figure until it came to rest as two black, sooty eyes. They blinked.

" _There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found,_ " Muta hummed under his breath. " _For when they placed it on his head, he began to dance around…_ "

The giant snowman's head slowly turned, and more pavement edge decorated it in the form of a mouth. It curved into a smile.

"Maybe it'll be friendly," Haru whispered.

It roared. Icy spittle flew from jagged black teeth.

Haru scrambled to her feet in a tangle of limbs just in time to avoid a snowy arm lash out. The hand smashed apart upon impact with the ground, but even as Haru grabbed Baron and Toto, it began to reform.

"I'm gonna be killed by Frosty the Snowman," she whimpered.

 **ooOoo**

 **Teaser: "** _ **Frosty's meant to be jolly and – and happy!" Haru wailed. "Not… whatever that monstrosity is!" / "Guys," she called back, "I think we've found it." "How can you be sure?" Haru looked at the pear tree growing out in the apartment block's grassy verge. A very confused looking partridge sat in its branches. "Oh, I don't know. Call it a lucky guess." / "Wait a minute. Drosselmeyer. I've heard that name before."**_


	2. The Reindeer Riddle (Part 2)

_The Bureau Files: Christmas 2018_

 **ooOoo**

 **The Reindeer Riddle (Part 2)**

Haru wasn't sure how fast snowmen usually ran – bounced? – but this particular snow creation was going at an unreasonably speedy pace. She swung herself around a corner, hand gripping a lamppost to make her turning sharp, and threw her head back. A moment later, she regretted it.

It should have really been comical. The snowman bounded along in leaps propelled with no visible muscles, like a particularly focused bouncy ball. And it might have been comical, if not for the razor-sharp teeth and gnarled stick fingers stretching out for her. She ducked just in time to avoid being grabbed by her coat.

"Someone tell me we have a plan!" Haru cried. She looked down to the cat and crow still bundled in one arm. "Anyone?"

"If it's powered by the song, then maybe the song might give us a way to stop it," Toto suggested.

"I don't think it much cares for the song. After all, Frosty's meant to be jolly and – and happy!" Haru wailed. "Not… whatever that monstrosity is!"

"What does happen to Frosty in the song?" Baron asked.

"I don't know! I think the sun comes out and he melts. We're in the middle of winter!" Haru snapped, and for emphasis she nodded her head towards the cold grey sky above. "Does it _look_ like melting weather to you?" She rounded another corner and nearly stopped when she came into sight of the busy Crossroads.

Then she carried on running because there was a giant snowman on her heels and, crowds or no crowds, she wasn't about to be killed by something as ridiculous as that.

The only good thing about having a giant snowman on her heels was that people tended to get out of her way very quickly. And those who didn't, well, she wasn't above elbowing the odd person aside.

She slammed into a door and barely slowed as she push herself into the restaurant.

"Miss, there's a queue for seats–" a waitress began.

"Don't worry, I'm not staying long!" Haru cried back, and she turned her head to where she was running just as there was the crash of Frosty entering behind her. The waitress, unsurprisingly, didn't ask _him_ to queue.

"Hey, I'm always for good food," Muta said, "but is this really the time?"

"I've got a plan," Haru insisted, and she slowed just enough to barrel through a door marked "staff only". A wave of heat hit her, and she stopped in the centre of the kitchen.

"Excuse me, miss, but you can't be here," one cook said.

"This'll make sense in a moment," Haru promised. She picked up a pan off an oven hob, empty except for a layer of oil in preparation. "Mind if I borrow this? Thanks."

Then there was a roar and Frosty leapt through the door and directly at her. She swung the pan heavily into the side of its head, and the heat sizzled through the snow skull. It slammed onto the ground, and when it snarled up at her, its head was a half-melted mess. Haru raised the pan for another hit, but it was never needed. The snowman started to push itself back up, but the heat of the kitchen was already taking its toll. Frosty collapsed back down. One coal-black eye dropped to the floor.

Moments passed, and Frosty the Snowman was nothing more than a pile of rapidly-melting snow and a single top hat.

Haru grinned at the startled kitchen workers, and consciously returned the pan to its place. "Thanks."

ooOoo

Suitably warmed up with a cup of tea and a fresh non-snowman-splattered change of clothes, Haru kicked back in the kitchen chair and eyed the evidence before them. Which was mostly just the Monopoly pieces and a few scraps of paper with What They Knew So Far written down. When it was like that, it looked measly little.

Baron stood atop the table at his usual height of one-foot-nothing and, even though he was obviously trying to hide it, he didn't seem too enamoured with the fruits of their research either.

"So," he said, and even that single word sounded heavy, "what do we know?"

"Dude brings songs to life and we almost got our asses handed to us by a snowman."

"Thank you, Muta."

"A _snowman_ , Baron."

"Yes, I heard you the first time." Baron looked to the other two Bureau members. "Any other input?"

"It'd be a wise idea to know whether this music magic is something inherent to the man, or whether it comes from the accordion," Toto said. "If it's the latter, all we need to do is separate him from the instrument."

"Good point."

"All we need to do?" Muta mimicked. "Are ya forgetting what happened the last time we tried to even talk to him? I don't think he's exactly gonna let us just walk off with his magic accordion."

"Also good point."

"He can't just conjure up anything with his magic," Haru said. "At least, I don't think so." When the others looked at her, she shrugged and added, "He used real reindeer for his Rudolph moment, right? And, Baron – your hat was the starting point for Frosty, remember? Like in the song. How is your hat, by the way?"

"Still drying." Baron only looked disgruntled for a moment as he recalled the abuse his top hat had suffered on the head of Frosty, before returning to the matter at hand. "But I think you may be onto something there. This magic he's using isn't omnipotent – it's limited to both the songs he can play and what he has to hand."

"Dude still managed to set a homicidal snowman on us," Muta muttered.

"It does leave him with the upper hand," Baron admitted, "but, nevertheless, we still need to intervene before somebody gets hurt."

"I mean, sure, but I'm gonna complain about it."

"The Monopoly pieces might have enough Creation magic for us to perform a tracking spell, although outside the Sanctuary and with so little magic on them, it's unlikely to be perfect," Baron continued. "But it should give us a direction at least. Haru, can you keep an eye on the news, just in case our musical friend decides to go for an encore?"

"Sure thing." Haru switched her phone onto the local news channels, which were all buzzing about the reindeer, Jack Frost, and now the latest about a sentient snowman, but nothing else. Yet. She found herself humming under her breath while she skimmed.

"Hey, Chicky; cut it out."

"Sorry. It's stuck in my head." She paused, and looked up over her phone. "Huh. I've just realised why we found Monopoly pieces with the reindeer. It's in the song."

"Are ya daft? Where's the Monopoly in Rudolph?"

" _All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names – like Pinocchio,"_ Haru sang through quickly. " _They never let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games – like Monopoly_. It's one of those funny versions."

"Huh. Doesn't seem all that funny to me."

"No offence, Muta, but I don't think you're exactly its target audience." Haru refreshed the news page, and then jumped to social media. Still nothing new. "So, I hate to be the wet towel, but do we actually have a plan for when we do find our musical friend?"

"Make a plan, plan goes to pieces, throw plan out of window, improvise," Toto offered. "In consideration of effort, I suggest we jump straight to improvising."

"Very funny. I was being serious."

"So was I."

The Monopoly pieces were glimmering now. Haru raised her gaze over her phone to watch as the tracking spell took form, the pieces glowing brighter and brighter. Moments passed. Then minutes. Haru couldn't remember tracking spells taking this long before.

She was on the verge of commenting when the light shot up from the game pieces. Tiny dots of light swirling on the spot, like stardust caught in an eddy, and they gathered together to form a floating orb. Within the orb, a street came into view, backed by grey apartment blocks.

"Well that's really helpful," Muta snarked. "A street. Good going. Could be anywhere in town."

"Do you have any better ideas, butterball?"

"Hey, I know those buildings," Haru said, ignoring the fight about to start up. "That's student accommodation. This must be near the university."

The orb fizzled out. "Gentleman," Baron said, "you heard the lady. We have our bearing."

ooOoo

On the plus side, at least they had narrowed it down to just the university quarter.

On the downside, they still had hundreds of student flats to rule out.

"We can't just go knocking on every single door and hope our mystery musician answers," Haru muttered, directing her voice downwards to where Muta was walking beside her. It was getting late, so there weren't many people around. Still, she kept her phone by her ear, just to make it look like she wasn't entirely crazy by talking to a cat. "What if he doesn't answer and we move on to the wrong building?"

"What if he does and he sends another snowman after us?"

"You're really hung up on that, aren't you?"

"Chicky, I've seen a lot of weird stuff with the Bureau, but homicidal snowman take the cake."

"Well, when you put it like that…" Haru slowed her step and tilted her head at a nearby building. "Huh. Muta," she said, "I think we've found it."

"How can you be sure?"

Haru stared at the pear tree growing out of the apartment block's grassy verge. A very confused-looking partridge sat in its branches. "Oh, I don't know. Call it a lucky guess."

"Very funny."

"Hilarious, I know." Haru squinted at the building. "Still leaves us a lotta flats to check out," she murmured. She glanced up as she approached it. Above, there was the ever familiar shadow of Toto gliding alongside the upper windows before slipping through an opening, leaving her and Muta to find their own way inside. There was the distant melody of a distinctive song drifting down.

Returning her attention to the entrance in front of her, she scowled. A passcode. Of course there was a passcode for the building. And she couldn't exactly just climb in through a window like Toto and Baron had. That tended to get attention – she had done it enough times to know.

"Hey, Muta," she whispered down, "don't suppose your criminal skills include codebreaking now, huh?"

"Did it _look_ like the Cat Kingdom has that level of security to get past?"

"Good point."

"Don't worry, Chicky, I got this. Just follow my lead."

"What lead–?" Haru moved away from the door as a student approached, attempting an innocent smile as if she hadn't just been discussing breaking her way in. The student warily eyed her and then punched in a code for the door, with his shoulder pointedly blocking the panel. She rolled her eyes – typical – and almost missed Muta slipping inside as the student entered.

"Hey – excuse me." Haru caught the door just before it closed. Muta vanished up the stairs. Geez, that cat sure could move when it suited him.

The student glared at her as she elbowed past him.

"Sorry – my cat," was all she managed before she sprinted up after Muta.

She caught up with him on the second floor.

"Oi, weren't you even going to wait for me?"

"Ya made it through, didn't ya?"

"No thanks to you."

"And who distracted the student while you got inside?"

"You can't pretend like that was your grand plan." Haru skidded to a stop on the fourth floor, partly because she was out of breath, partly because Toto and Baron were waiting for them, but mostly because there were three French hens sitting on the windowsill beside them.

Hen.

Toto.

Hen.

Baron.

Hen.

Actually, now she thought about it, she wasn't sure they _were_ French. What made a hen French? They could just be ordinary hens. Sitting on a windowsill on the fourth floor of student flats in the middle of urban Japan. Although, she had heard weirder things happening in student accommodation. Still, unlikely to be a coincidence.

Also, she could hear 12 Days of Christmas coming from the nearest apartment door. Accordion style.

She nodded her greeting to the strange assortment cluttered on the window.

"Hey, Baron. Toto. Toto's friends."

"Just because they're birds doesn't mean I know them," Toto said tiredly.

" _Do_ you know them?" she asked.

"Of course not. They're enchanted birds made by a Creation accordion." Toto nodded to the door where 12 Days of Christmas was gradually progressing through the verses. "So what are we doing about our magical Mozart?"

"We could knock, you know, like ordinary people."

"Right, Chicky. And going for a nice chat worked out so well last time."

"Okay, Muta; no need to make me feel quite so stupid for suggesting it." Haru watched the door. The song was currently up to six geese a-laying and she could only imagine the mess that was causing. "You know, if we don't have any better ideas on how to get in, I'm going to have to knock. Unless he's left a convenient window open somewhere in his flat?" she asked hopefully.

"We've already checked," Toto said.

"Shucks." Haru sighed and steeled herself for the inevitable confrontation ahead of her. "Alright. Here goes nothing." She knocked.

The accordion ignored her.

"Huh. That was anticlimactic."

"I'm surprised you know such a long word, butterball."

"Please, not now," Baron said.

"I can't believe none of us know how to lockpick," Haru muttered. She knocked again, this time accompanied by, "Campus security! We've received complaints of strange noises coming from your flat. Open up!"

This time, the accordion paused. It gave one last trill, and then a wheezing sound as it was placed down – much to the Bureau's collective relief.

The door opened, and she came face to face with the musician from the street.

Bingo.

The student stared at her. She stared back. She smiled and gave a little wave. "Hello."

"You're not security," he said.

"I could be."

"I know you… You're that lady from the street. The one who chased me!"

"And you're the boy who set a snowman on us," Haru retorted, dropping the pleasantries. She pushed inside before he could stop her. Much to her surprise, save for the usual student mess, the room was tidy. Or, at least, there were no signs of multiple Christmas birds filling the space. She wouldn't go so far as to call it tidy.

She picked up the accordion, and the student froze in the doorway.

"Neat trick, getting all the song birds to vanish," she said. She watched the rest of the Bureau sneak in after her while the student's attention was diverted. "Does that happen automatically when you finish a song, or do you have to trigger it?"

The student scowled, and for a moment Haru thought he wasn't going to answer her out of sheer stubbornness, but then he said, "They naturally revert a while after I stop playing, but I can make them stop too. Who are you?"

"We're the Cat Bureau."

The student squinted, finally noticing the other three members. Muta sat by Haru's foot, but Baron and Toto were scouting round the room. "But only two of you are cats," he said.

Muta snorted. "Too late to change the name now."

"I'd like to believe we got off on the wrong foot," Haru said, ignoring the student's eyes bugging at Muta's words. "So, let's try proper introductions. I'm Haru. That's Baron, Toto, and the cat who just spoke is Muta. Say hi, Muta."

"Do I have to? Homicidial snowman, remember?"

"He's still annoyed about our last encounter," Haru said. "Admittedly, so am I, but I'm politer. And you are?"

"Do… the others talk?"

"Yes. Name?"

The student scowled again, but eyed the accordion Haru still held. "Osamu," he said. "Can I have my instrument back now?"

"Considering that you use it to summon songs… no. No, I think I'll stay here with the upper hand and your accordion so nothing nasty happens. Again." Haru watched out of the side of her eye as Baron and Toto located several feathers scattered around the room.

"I'm sorry about the snowman – but you were chasing me. I panicked."

"Do you normally try to kill people when you panic?"

"I didn't want it to kill you! Just scare you off!"

"And now you've got our attention."

"Mr Osamu, with your music magic, you can only create things if you already have something to base it on, correct?" Baron asked. Evidently, he had concluded his sweep of the room. He held a collection of different feathers in his hand.

Osamu nodded. "I need something to anchor it into."

"But you're not perfect at controlling the outcome," Baron continued. "For instance, when it came to creating three hens, the magic didn't anchor onto the hen feathers you had brought, but onto several wild birds outside."

"I have to concentrate to make sure it does what I want," Osamu muttered, "and sometimes the magic finds something more suitable to anchor onto."

"Understandable. Changing an existing bird into a hen takes far less effort than conjuring a whole hen out of one feather."

Toto landed on Haru's shoulder. He peered down at the instrument in her hands, and Haru could feel the tension running through him. "Baron, you need to take a look at this," he said. "It's a Drosselmeyer."

Baron stilled. "Which one?"

"I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Drosselmeyer?" Haru echoed. "What's a Drosselmeyer?"

"It means we need to get this away as far as possible," Toto said.

"No!"

Osamu leapt forward and Haru's numb grip – accordions were _heavy_ , good grief – lost it.

The Bureau froze as the musician cradled the accordion into a playing position. The first few notes of 12 Days lingered in the air. "You're not taking it away from me, you understand?" Osamu growled. "It's mine! I found it, I cleaned it up and made it work again! It's mine!"

"Geez, when did he become Gollem?" Muta muttered.

Haru nudged him with her foot.

"Mr Osamu," Baron said calmly, hands raised, "I believe you are a good person. Ordinarily, you would never hurt anyone." He stepped out before the rest of the Bureau, and Haru had to dispel the urge to yank him back. "But the accordion you have there is dangerous. Creations like it have the potential to change people, to twist them. You've always wanted to believe magic is real, am I right? And then this instrument appears in your life and not only is magic real, but you can control it, except, not really, because the songs that harm are so much easier than songs that don't. So when we turned up and you thought you might lose it – the accordion, this world you've discovered – it was far too easy to twist Frosty the Snowman into a monster, to respond with violence. It took your fear of losing this, and twisted it into something malicious. But that accordion will drain you eventually, Osamu, and it will leave you with nothing of yourself. Just a monster."

"And how would you know that?" Osamu growled.

"I've seen it happen before. Please. It doesn't need to happen again."

"Then you're wrong! Because I know exactly what I'm doing!" Sharp, discordant notes fizzled from the instrument, and Haru found herself frozen in place. The notes wove around her heart, pulsing through her veins and commanding her to straighten. Her arms were flung wide and then – inexplicably, ridiculously – she began to dance.

"Oh, holy–" she managed just before she spun.

 _Nine ladies dancing._

Dammit.

"Osamu, what are you–"

"Now, what was your name?" Osamu asked. "Baron, was it? How fitting."

And, through the haze of her puppet dance, Haru saw Baron sway, and then take a stilted leap.

 _Ten lords a-leaping._

"Fun fact," Osamu continued, and he sounded different. "In early versions, it wasn't four calling birds, but four colly birds. Colly coming from 'coal black'. So… four black birds…"

Toto froze from where he had just taken off from Haru's shoulder, and then settled down on the table, the music compelling him to sit.

"Yeah?" A blur of white fur cannonballed towards Osamu. "And where do cats come into it?"

The music died abruptly with a squeal, and the spell broke. Haru shook off the remnant magic, although her feet still wanted to tap, and collapsed down. The world continued to spin for several more dizzying moments. She dropped her head to one side to see Baron similarly recovering from his leaping fit.

She caught his eye, and she couldn't help it. She grinned. "Score one for Bureau dignity."

"Getoff, you mangy – gah!"

Haru looked back just in time to see Toto sweeping down and plucking the accordion from Osamu. Toto faltered under the weight, and then dropped it entirely a few feet off. She lunged for it, her hand knuckle-white as it gripped the strap.

Osamu reached it in the same moment.

She went to pull it from him and then – she froze.

It wasn't a voice, exactly.

It was a feeling – a feeling that she could almost have mistaken for her own, only she had been around magic long enough to know when something was amiss.

She should play it, this feeling said. After all, better in her hands than his. She knew how to handle magic and she had seen first-hand the power of this accordion. This Creation. With this, she could stop Osamu entirely. He had barely played two notes, and the whole Bureau had been reduced to ridiculousness, saved only by the absence of a cat in 12 Days. Next time, they might not be so lucky.

But if she played it… she could stop him.

The other part of her – her own thoughts – reminded herself that she didn't know how to play an accordion, even if she wanted to do any such thing.

But this accordion was magic.

All she needed to do was ask.

She could stop the Bureau losing anyone ever again.

She snapped her hand back and Osamu snatched the accordion up. She shuffled back, tried to stand and staggered down again. There was a whoosh of magic behind her, and gloved hands grabbed her shoulders. She was pulled back to her feet, barely registering Baron at human height as he hauled her towards the door.

"Baron – you'll be seen–" Haru started.

"Not our biggest problem right now!" Baron cried just as a gust of snow-cold wind followed them out. Ice crept along her skin, and she felt the coldness seep into her. _In the Bleak Midwinter_ was playing out again, the music seemingly chasing after them.

"What was that about, Chicky? Ya nearly had it!"

Haru missed her footing on the stairwell and stumbled. Baron righted her. "There's something wrong with that accordion!" she snapped at Muta.

"It's a Creation, ain't it? Can't ya just talk sense into it?"

"No! It's–" Haru stumbled again, verbally this time. She wanted to say evil, but stopped herself. Nevertheless, there had been something… off about that accordion that had made her soul crawl. "Baron, what is it?"

"A Creation."

Reaching the exit, Haru pulled him back. "I've met lots of Creations before, but never anything like that. Muta's right – Creations, we can reason with. But that… I think it's just maliciousness. It wanted me to use it to hurt Osamu. What… What kind of Creation does that?"

"A Drosselmeyer Creation."

"You keep saying that, but I don't know what that means!" Haru snapped. "I don't even…" She trailed off as a half-faded memory nagged at her. "Wait a minute. Drosselmeyer. I've heard that name before."

"Sure ya have. It's from the Nutcracker."

"No. I mean, I've heard it closer to home." Haru concentrated, and Baron's own silence made her suspect she was along the right lines. The memory cleared. "My father. He went by that name once."

"It was his original name," Baron said, almost gently. "The Drosselmeyer family, a family of sorcerers and artisans, are spread across multiple worlds, usually inherently capable of making extremely powerful Creations."

"But doesn't that make you a Drosselmeyer Creation?"

"Not all Drosselmeyer Creations are like the accordion," Baron said. "My unusual beginnings saw to that. But… enough are to warrant caution. The Drosselmeyer family line had a habit of pushing the boundaries of Creations, often at the expense of the Creation. And those who encountered it."

"Like what?"

"Let's just say that Guertena's habit of splitting Creations' souls from their bodies would not have been a surprise to the Drosselmeyer family," Toto said. "And, in this case, giving a Creation the purpose to bring harm."

A blast of cold wind slammed down the stairwell, and Haru cried out in shock. A hard chord echoed across the walls, bouncing and reverberating until it filled the very air, filled her very lungs. She was distantly aware that the others had jolted, even the Creations with their increased endurance.

Osamu stood at the top of the stairs, snowy winds whipping around him and a similar icy gleam in his eyes. He started towards them. Slowly, like he knew he had all the time in the world.

" _In the bleak midwinter_ ," he began, his words somehow rising above the accordion's vicious melody, " _frosty wind made moan…_ "

The wind sharpened, cutting across Haru's skin. The cold crept through her, and suddenly it was effort to simply stand against the gale storm.

Osamu took another step down.

" _Earth stood hard as iron, water like…_ a stone."

Something shifted inside Haru at those whispered words and she doubled over, pain monopolising her. Her lungs… Her throat… Her blood… She tried to swallow, but the moisture in her mouth was gravel now. Stone. There was a thud. Someone had collapsed.

She eyed the sideways door.

Oh.

It had been her.

Water.

Water, water, water, she was 70% water, 70% stone, and her body was breaking.

A grey suit fell down beside her. White gloves pushed out against the floor, resisting the call of gravity. Orange fur peeked out between glove and suit. Orange fur, now orange-painted wood. Small now, smaller than before, and wooden. Baron in his wooden form, moving still, trying to negate the magic with his wooden form, but wood had water too, and now gravel ran along his grain.

Gravity won.

There was the sound of stone meeting flesh, and the music cut off. The spell's grip loosened, just enough for her to gasp a pained breath. She rolled her head to see Toto – stone gargoyle Toto – pick himself up off the floor after flinging himself at musician and accordion.

His wings grated against each other, his feathers clinking, and he collapsed back down.

She should get up.

Help.

But all she could do was lie there, stone still in her veins and gravel in her throat, and when she coughed, tiny pebbles speckled with blood dropped from her mouth. She watched as they dissolved into water droplets.

Osamu moved for the accordion again.

"Stop…" Haru rasped.

He ignored her and brought the instrument back into his arms.

They had been lucky twice – with no cats in _12 Days_ , and Toto's gargoyle status giving him just enough immunity against _Midwinter_ – but she couldn't deceive herself with the illusion that luck would hold out a third time. She tried to will her limbs to work. A whimper passed through her lips instead.

The first few notes of _Midwinter_ started up again, and she felt her blood begin to freeze over.

Toto didn't move.

This was it.

" _Ya better…_ " There was a gruff cough from behind her – Muta – and he tried again. " _Ya better watch out, ya better not cry…_ "

The accordion faltered, probably more out of disbelief than anything else. If Haru had had the strength, she would have added her disbelieving look to the mix.

Muta continued in a slightly monotone melody. " _Ya better not pout, I'm telling ya why. Santa Claus is coming to town._ "

The accordion faltered again but this time, when it picked up, the melody had shifted. She heard Osamu curse as his tune slipped between _Midwinter_ and _Santa Claus Is Coming To Town_ , torn between the melody he wanted and the melody he could hear.

Another curse, and Osamu shifted the tune entirely to match Muta's.

The cruel wind stilled, but the magic still lingered in the air. Instead of snow, there was the thud of boots – sturdy, heavy boots – descending the stairs, and a shadow, immeasurably large, fell across the hallway.

This time, it was Muta who faltered and the accordion continued.

Haru propped an elbow beneath her, her breath pained but no longer agony. She attempted a note. It was thin and wavered, but it found its mark. The accordion continued.

" _I… don't want a lot for Christmas…_ "

Her voice cut out and she dropped her forehead down against the floor. She closed her eyes. Banished the silly little nerves that played on her and the aches that lingered in her blood.

" _There is just one thing I need._

 _I don't care about the presents,_

 _Underneath the Christmas tree._ "

Her arm gave way and she dropped down onto one side. She could see Baron recovering, his form settling back into flesh. She caught his eye. Smiled. The next notes tripped softly off her tongue.

" _I just want you for my own,_

 _More than you could ever know._

 _All I want for Christmas is you…_ "

The accordion's melody drifted and the shadow of Santa Claus flickered just as Haru's breath snagged. The accordion took over though, the magic shifting, trying to find a sharp spin on the new song.

" _Have yourself a merry little Christmas…_ "

Haru tilted her head back to see Toto picking himself slowly up.

" _Let your heart be light._

 _From now on, our troubles will be out of sight,_

 _And have yourself a merry little Christmas tonight…"_

There was another curse as Osamu shifted song, easier to change with rather than play against, but never enough time for the magic to take root. Haru eased herself up, and this time there was strength in her limbs. She started unsteadily to her feet.

The magic and music swirled around her, and just as she felt it focus, a clear tenor voice rang out.

" _Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?_

 _In the lane, snow is glistening…_ "

Haru almost faltered then, but not because of any weakness. None by the accordion's doing, anyway. She glanced back and Baron, now back to his feet, met her gaze. His eyes softened.

" _A beautiful sight,_

 _We're happy tonight,_

 _Walking in a winter wonderland_."

Osamu stepped back, his fingers working frantically to keep tune against Baron's voice.

Haru closed in on him and her hand curled over the accordion's bellows. She felt the accordion attempt to worm its thoughts into hers, but she focused on Baron's melody. "Enough," she said. "You've lost. Release him."

Osamu stared into her eyes, and she wondered if the accordion Creation was looking through him. She hoped so. She hoped it could see the way her eyes were no longer afraid, see the determination in her jaw, see the limit of her patience reached.

"We're not afraid of you anymore," she said. Her hand moved along the accordion and gently peeled Osamu's fingers from the notes. Her voice dropped. "And I know you've seen into my mind if your little thought trick was any indication. You know what lengths I will go to in order to protect those I care for. Do you really want to push me that far?"

Osamu stared a moment longer, and then he blinked and his eyes cleared. He frowned, and suddenly inhaled sharply with horror. "God, what have I…?" He looked down, saw the accordion he still cradled, and tried to shove it away. Haru caught it and quickly bundled it out of his reach.

"Osamu?"

"I… I'm so sorry for what I did – I never, I don't–"

"No one got hurt," Haru reassured.

There was a snort from across the hallway. "Speak for yourself, Chicky!"

Haru smiled. "We'll recover," she amended. "And, in future, you might want to steer clear of enchanted musical instruments, okay? Magic can seem like fun, but it tends to have a mind of its own."

Osamu nodded. "No fear. And… thank you."

ooOoo

In the warmth of the Yoshioka household, a strange assortment of individuals sat around a kitchen table and eyed the ancient accordion that rested atop it.

"So," Haru said, "what are we going to do with it?"

"If we had the Sanctuary, I would suggest we box it up and leave it in a safe room of the Bureau," Baron said. He was sat beside Haru, expending magic to keep him at a human height. A little luxury, but one she couldn't resent at Christmastime.

"And since we don't have the Sanctuary?" Haru prompted.

"We box it up and place it somewhere in your room where we'll know not to disturb it."

"We're not keeping the murdering accordion Creation in my room," Haru deadpanned.

"Would you rather we left it in the attic, where ya mam might find it?"

"It doesn't have any power without someone to play it," Toto said. "If left alone, it will be as magical as, well, an accordion."

"But it's a Creation–"

"A Drosselmeyer Creation," Baron amended. "And the Drosselmeyer family had a habit of procuring Creations with… peculiar qualities. It appears that in exchange for this Creation to have the ability to alter reality with music alone – a stupendously powerful ability – its trade-off was a dependency on a host. Without someone playing it, it is powerless."

"Still don't like it," Haru muttered, "but I suppose we don't have anywhere else to keep it." She made a face. "I can see that until we find a solution to this, I'm going to end up with a lot of dangerous junk hidden in my room."

"We'll talk to Lune and Yuki about setting up a safe room in the Cat Kingdom," Baron said.

"Great idea. Let's just leave the magical murder instrument in the Cat Kingdom," Muta grunted. "Can't see how that could possibly go wrong." He leapt up onto the table and approached the accordion. As he leant a paw against it, the accordion shrank to a size suitable for him.

Haru could practically sense it begging to be played.

"Muta…" Baron warned.

"Relax. It ain't gonna have enough time to tempt me with anything. I just… wanna try something out." He picked up the accordion, and the others tensed as a few off-key notes strayed from it. Muta scowled at the instrument and fumbled over the keys. "Was a lot easier to play with fingers," he muttered, but eventually the beginning of a tune tumbled out.

Despite all her misgivings, Haru found a small smile rising to her lips. "I didn't know you could play."

"Or sing," Toto added.

"Used to, long time ago. Never saw any need to bring it up 'til now." Muta gave a scheming grin and joined in with the melody that was quickly rising in confidence.

" _Snow is falling, all around me._

 _Children playing, having fun…._ "

Haru laughed as the tinsel hanging across the ceiling began to shed their glittery foil strips, falling like shining snow.

" _We're gonna have a party tonight,_

 _I'm gonna find that girl underneath the mistletoe_

 _We'll kiss by candlelight_."

Haru felt a spark of magic above and when she looked up, sure enough, part of the tinsel was weaving itself together. The glitter dissolved away and a sprig of mistletoe bloomed into place above the space between her and Baron.

She side-eyed Muta. "You sneaky cat."

"Well, are ya gonna kiss or aren't ya? It is tradition, after all."

Haru glanced to Baron, and she could feel her face redden. "I mean," she managed, "it _is_ tradition."

"Well, if that's the case, what choice do we have?" Baron replied.

Neither of them moved.

"Hurry up!" Muta demanded.

Haru couldn't help it – she snorted. So much for romantic. She quickly leant in and pecked Baron on the cheek, retreating before she could get too flustered. "Happy?" she asked Muta.

"Never."

"That sounds about right," she said. "Now put that accordion down before it gets any ideas. Hey, Baron; help me find a suitable home for it, since it was your idea to store it in my house." She grabbed the accordion and started for the stairs, barely waiting to see if Baron was following. Her face was red now; she could feel the blush crawling all the way to her ears and she kept replaying that moment, wondering if she should have taken the chance, if she should have done it differently…

It was as she dropped the accordion down on her bed that she realised Baron had paused at her doorway. She gave one warning look to the instrument – as if it had any plans of escaping – and paced back to the hallway.

"Hey, Baron. Something wrong?" She replayed the quick kiss in her mind and had to fight to stop the blush from intensifying. She focused on the banister rail behind Baron, the speckled wallpaper, anything to keep her from reddening further.

"No, not wrong."

His voice sounded different. It took Haru several belated moments to realise it was because he sounded… bashful? She had never heard him sound like that, so she hadn't recognised it immediately. She focused back on him. His gloved hand brushed absent-mindedly at his cheek.

"It's simply that," he continued, "it is tradition for all individuals under the mistletoe to bestow a kiss, and I believe only one of us did so."

Haru stared. Her heart beat out a funny little rhythm.

"What?"

Baron wasn't meeting her eyes. He seemed to be staring at her nose. "I'm asking if it would be proper to finish the tradition."

"What?"

He inhaled sharply beneath his breath, and his eyes closed briefly. "Miss Haru, may I kiss you?"

" _Oh_." Haru blinked, and then realised Baron was waiting for her to say something. She blinked again, and her heart did that same off-beat rhythm. "Well, you hardly need to call me 'Miss Haru' for that sort of thing."

She watched Baron's mouth undertake a little dance, like he was fighting the urge to laugh. "Miss– I mean, Haru… I'm still waiting for an answer."

"I guess you are." Before her courage – or foolishness, or festive optimism, or whatever it was – could give way, she quickly closed the gap between them. Her arms curled around his shoulders and then, just as suddenly, she leant back. "I… did read the signs right, right? This is what you were asking about, wasn't it?"

Baron laughed gently then. He dropped his head down so their foreheads brushed against one another. "Yes, Haru."

"Good. That would have been very embarrassing otherwise." She leant forward and softly kissed him. "Merry Christmas, Baron."

 **ooOoo**

 **A/N: Happy New Year, everybody! I hope you enjoyed this festive two-parter, and at some point the next series will be happening. However, I hope to get something non-TBF-related up and posted before that, although which story that is could be anyone's guess.**

 **Here's to a wonderful 2019.**

 **Cat.**


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